The carrier has suspended its Gatwick-Hong Kong service until 28 March, but is continuing five flights a day from Heathrow and its daily Manchester service, although the airline said it would make “minor adjustments” to Manchester schedules.

British Airways has also merged its double-daily Hong Kong flight until further notice.

The bulk of Cathay’s reductions are regional flights, with 90% of all services to mainland China suspended until the end of March.

Ronald Lam, chief customer and commercial officer at Cathay Pacific Group, said: “This was the most challenging Chinese New Year period we have experienced. As the novel coronavirus outbreak in mainland China intensified towards the end of the holiday period, travel demand dropped substantially.

“With more governments worldwide having imposed travel restrictions on passengers from mainland China and in some cases Hong Kong, we are seeing continued cancellations of bookings.”

The coronavirus crisis follows pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that began last year.

Cathay’s inbound passenger numbers for January were down 40% year-on-year and 46% in both November and December.

The airline warned its 2020 first half financial result would be “significantly down” on the same period in 2019.

Lam added: “Passenger capacity reduction is also likely for April as we continue to monitor and match market demand.”